Our Staff

Rev. Damien J. Lake began serving as the Senior Minister in January of 2015. He was ordained through the United Church of Christ in 2014. Rev. Lake moved to Ohio from Southwestern Michigan. He graduated from Chicago Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree in 2013. Rev. Lake came back to ministry after being in sales and marketing for the first 10 years of his career life. He is married to his partner Susanne and together they have four children: Arabella, Caleb, Lorelei, and Gwenevere. When Rev. Lake is not working he loves to work on old cars, tinkering with them, fixing them up, and most importantly driving them. Rev. Lake can be reached at revdamienlake@gmail.com.

Margaret G. Borrelli began serving as Minister of Faith Formation at Church of the Redeemer UCC in October 2006. She has served as a Church Educator in the United Church of Christ since 1978. She is certified by the UCC as an Accredited Church Educator and is authorized by the Western Reserve Association as a Commissioned Minister of Christian Education. Margaret grew up in Cleveland and received her BA from Ohio Wesleyan University. She lives in North Olmsted where she and her husband have raised three daughters. Her interests include writing poetry, reading, and scrapbooking. She can be reached at margaret@corucc.org.

Gayle Donahue RN has been involved in parish nursing since 1992 and Church of the Redeemer in February 2015. She has served congregations and provided management to a hospital based parish nurse model. Her bachelors degree is from Roberts Wesleyan College and her masters with a focus on Community Health is from Case Western Reserve University, Francis Payne Bolton School fo Nursing. Gayle lives in Avon Lake where she and her husband Brad raised three children, Matt, Katie and Marc. In addition to time spent with family and traveling Gayle enjoys snowshoeing, swimming, golf, biking and attempting to capture funny behavior of wildlife on film.

Julie Mistur currently serves as Tech Support at Church of the Redeemer UCC staring in May 2011 as Program Coordinator. She has served at several nonprofit organizations and earned her CVA (Certified Volunteer Administrator) credentials in 2010. When not at Redeemer, she enjoys walking and going on adventures with her daughter, Katie, and husband, Bob. Favorite activities include estate sales, exploring new technologies, and having movie marathons with her daughter. Julie can be reached at Julie@corucc.org.

Gail Salco has been the Administrative Secretary of the church for over 25 years and is at the center of day-to-day life at the church. When not at her desk, she plays in the Carillon Bell Choir. Outside the church, Gail volunteers in a therapeutic riding program for special children and adults. She also enjoys recreational horseback riding and is an enthusiastic quilter. A good deal of Gail’s “spare” time is devoted to her family, especially her two grandchildren—and her faithful Dalmatian, Susie. Gail’s e-mail address is gail@corucc.org.

Carol E. Peddie has been a church music director for over forty years and has been at Church of the Redeemer since 2005. She has directed numerous choirs and has served as a soloist in Cleveland, Avon Lake, Lorain, Miami and Boca Raton, Florida, and San Diego, California. Carol taught high school vocal music for thirty years both in Lorain and Boca Raton. She grew up in Lakewood and received her bachelor’s degree in music education (voice and violin) from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and her master’s degree in education from Baldwin-Wallace College. She currently resides in Avon and enjoys travel and sports. Contact Carol at carol@corucc.org.

Jason Aquila, Redeemer’s Organist and Carillon Bell Choir director, holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He spent 10 years as Coordinator of Accompanying at Western Illinois University, during some of which he was the organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Macomb, Illinois. Jason is currently teaching private piano lessons as well as coaching chamber music and accompanying students and faculty at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. You can send Jason e-mail at jason@corucc.org.